


Tradition

by blueninjasharpshooter



Series: 'tis the season [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Elementary School, Alternate Universe - High School, Best Friends, Developing Relationship, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Pining, Public Display of Affection, School Dances, Spin the Bottle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-14 15:40:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16915650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueninjasharpshooter/pseuds/blueninjasharpshooter
Summary: Keith and Lance form a tradition of kissing under the mistletoe.





	Tradition

**Author's Note:**

> This ended up being way longer than I had originally intended, but whatever.

1\. Elementary School, Christmas Dance

The gymnasium was packed with people, all of them dancing along to whatever holiday classic came on next. Most of the kids in his grade had been too scared to ask their crush to the dance, so they ended up just going out with their friends.

At this point, Lance was starting to wish he’d been too scared to do so as well. Maybe then he wouldn’t be sitting alone by the door, pathetically waiting for his mama to pick him up.

Lance had had a crush on Jenny Shaybon for at least three days and now seemed to believe that he’d found his true love. So, he took a chance and asked her to the Christmas dance. Surprisingly, she said yes.

He had skipped home with the biggest smile on his face that day, he couldn’t wait to share the good news with his family. 

His mama freaked out when she heard the news, insisting that they go out and buy him a fancy outfit and some nice flowers to impress her with. His dad had simply patted him on the back as congratulations, he’d never been big with words but was still a very kind man. 

Later that week, his mama took him out to the mall to get him some nice clothes that were sure to impress Jenny. It took them two hours of looking, but they had eventually found and bought a nice baby blue button up and some slacks. It was a little excessive for elementary school, but he didn’t care.

It was his first big date, he’d show up in a limo if he had the money.   
Lance had been the perfect gentlemen. He had ended up bringing her a bouquet of her favourite flowers, which she loved, he’d have to make sure to thank his mama for the idea. Speaking of his mama, he’d gotten her to be their chaperone for the evening. It wasn’t quite as good as the limo, but it would have to do. 

Everything had been going great, and Lance was having the time of his life. He was smiling and dancing and was screaming the lyrics to Jingle Bells as loud as he possibly could. 

Jenny had seemed super into it too, she’d always been rather shy but here she was, singing loudly right along with him and the rest of the gym. Lance looked at her with admiring eyes. Her voice wasn't the prettiest, it was pitchy and she was a little behind on the words, but Lance wouldn’t change it for anything. 

They were young and in love and having the time of their lives.  
That was until James showed up. He was clearly mad, face scrunched up and clutching his cup of punch violently. 

“What the hell do you think you're doing?” He spat out at Lance. And dang he said a bad word, this must be serious.

Lance was confused, to say the least. He’d only talked to this guy like twice? And now he’s pissed off at him for some odd reason. Lance wasn’t having it. 

“What's it to you, tough guy?” He sneered back. Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say, because the next thing he knew James was far too close to his face, glaring daggers down at him.

Lance was a little confused when he saw Jenny move from his side, to behind James, but was far to busy judging the broccoli between James’ teeth to say anything about it.

“Did you really think you had a chance with my girl?” James asked, voice still loud even though he was literally talking right into Lance’s face. Seriously, he was that close.

“Last time I checked, she was her own person,” Lance responded through gritted teeth. He might have been young but he wasn’t stupid. Jenny had said yes, James had no control over her decision. 

“Wait, guys! Stop!” Jenny yelled, emerging from her previous spot behind James. Her brown eyes were blown wide in fear as she watched James ready a fist. 

“Lance…” She started quietly. “Was this supposed to be a date?” She asked hesitantly, twirling her hair and staring at the ground as she waited for a response.

“Uuuuh…” He looked around the room, noticing a small crowd of people starting to form around them. “...yes?” He finally responded. What else could it have been? He’d brought her flowers for crying out loud.

“Oh.” She said back. What kind of response was that? “Um, I thought we were just going as friends, I’m sorry.” She said quietly, still not looking up at him. Sorry didn't erase the total humiliation bubbling throughout his body, though. 

He couldn't speak or move, just nodded slightly and watched her walk away, hand in hand with James. He felt like an idiot. Of course, she didn't see him like that. Who would? He had screwed up big time and wasn't sure what he was supposed to do now.

He felt almost empty as scurried away from the crowd. He didn’t look at their faces but could feel the large amounts of judgment rolling off of them in waves.

Of course, she was already taken. Of fricken course, she was with James of all people. 

He sat down on one of the benches by the side of the gym, a group of girls were giggling beside him. They probably saw what just happened. The whole school probably saw what just happened. He needed to leave. 

To: Mama (7:57pm)  
Can you pick me up, please?

It only took her a few minutes to answer, saying she was already on her way and would be there in a few. Just like that, no questions asked. She really was a great mother.

He got up to go meet her outside, keeping his head down so people wouldn't be able to see his teary eyes. He just wanted to go home and hide away in his room.

He almost made it out the door when someone smacked right into him, making both of them tumble to the ground. 

“Watch where you're going!” The other boy grumbled. Lance recognize that voice. Crud. Here he was thinking his night couldn’t possibly get any worse.   
He looked up to see Keith Kogane, already back on his feet and reaching a hand out towards Lance as an offer up. 

He was reluctant but took it. Though Lance hadn’t really talked to the other at all, he knew that Keith didn't have the best reputation at school. He was said to be grumpy and rude, always got into fights. He had a mullet too, so he must be horrible. 

Lance dusted himself off lightly, making sure to keep his head down. He would try to leave but Keith was blocking his way.

He was just about to ask him to please move when he finally looked up from the ground.

Keith was blushing. Like actually full on blushing. Keith was always categorized as one of those edgy kids that never showed emotion. It was wrong for Lance to just believe whatever he heard. Keith had helped him up, after all, so he clearly wasn't that bad. 

He probably just didn't like to talk to all the idiots that filled the school halls. Which was totally fair. Lance could totally picture him talking a lot with the people he cared about, though. Smiling and laughing, letting his guard down when he knew it was safe to do so. He guessed Keith just put some walls up while he was out in public. 

So Keith having emotions, that wasn’t weird at all. Keith blushing, however, that was unimaginable. But boy was Lance glad he got to see it. 

After getting over the initial shock of seeing pink dusting Keith’s cheeks, he finally picked up on Keith's shifty eyes. He kept looking up, towards the ceiling, then back down at Lance. Again, and again.

Again, before he could ask what the crud was going on, Keith leaned in and kissed him. There was no tongue and it was just a peck but Lance felt fireworks go off inside him anyway. That was his first kiss. He’d had his first kiss with Keith Kogane. 

It was unexpected, sure. But definitely not unwelcome. 

It was only after they broke apart that he got the chance to look up and see for himself hat had Keith so distracted. There, above their heads, was a small bunch of mistletoe. 

He heard Keith’s retreating footsteps and felt the vibrations his phone was emitting from his pocket. It was probably his mama telling him she had arrived, but he stood frozen in place, staring at the plant above his head. 

Wow.

2\. Middle School, Allura’s Annual Christmas Party

Lance, as well as fifteen other desperate middle schoolers, were sitting in a circle in the living room of Allura Altea’s house. Allura always had the best parties. She served fancy food and got her butler, Coran, to tell wild stories to her guests, and her house was huge so she always invited the entire grade, no matter what the occasion was.

This time, the occasion was Christmas. They were about to start a game of spin the bottle, Holiday Edition. Which was basically the exact same thing, the only real being that someone held mistletoe over your head as you kissed.

“Keith!” Some girl with blue hair yelled over her shoulder from her spot next to Lance. Lance honestly didn't think he would come but when he turned around as well, sure enough, there was Keith looking good as ever. Since their kiss under the mistletoe a few years back, Lance had begun to pay closer attention to the boy. 

They’d also become very close friends. Best friends even. They told each other everything and hung out all the time. Lance had become one of those special few people that Keith showed his emotions to. 

They had this kind of unspoken rule though, that they would never bring up that kiss again. Lance wanted to so badly. Wanted to ask if it meant anything to Keith. He also wanted to ask Keith out on a date, because that kiss sure did mean a lot to him. 

You see, he’d developed a huge crush on the other boy throughout his time observing and getting to know him.

He’d also found out that one of his favourite things about Keith was his smile. Especially when one of Lance’s crappy jokes was the cause of it. Keith still didn't smile very often in public, even with Lance around, but when he did it was with his whole face. He got the cutest dimples and showed off his red braces and imperfect teeth, it was beautiful. 

“Keith, come play with us!” The girl shouted loudly, causing every head in the room to turn and face the boy in question. 

Keith paled a bit and started fiddling with the ends of his sleeves in a way that screamed just how nervous he was.

“Um,” his eyes darted around from face to face, trying to find someone familiar, when finally he saw Lance. He visibly untensed, just the slightest bit, then smiled. “Sure,” he said, making his way to Lance’s other side and sitting down, on his knees.

And then, they were playing. The bottle was spinning and spinning, turn after turn. Everybody in the circle had kissed someone already. Everyone but Lance, Keith and the blue-haired girl.

It was now Keith's turn to spin, he put some force in it, making the bottle spin violently in the middle. They all watched in anticipation as it spun around and around in an endless loop. After a long while of waiting, it began slowing down.

Lance smirked when it landed on him and not the girl, who had clearly wanted to kiss Keith. Then it finally fully clicked in his mind. He was now the one that was going to kiss Keith. Again.

He was going to kiss his crush/best friend. Keith shifted over to face him, smiling sheepishly and seeming unaware of Lance’s inner panic. 

Keith started to lean in and close his eyes and Lance wanted to do the same but he honestly could not move. But Keith kept coming closer and closer until their lips made contact.

It was a bit more than a peck this time, lasting a little longer than it needed to, but that was fine. Lance finally found himself able to close his eyes and lean forward into the gentle press of the other's lips. 

Keith’s lips were dry and a little chapped and it was absolutely perfect. Lance had wanted this for so long. The mistletoe was hanging over them, all their friends were around to witness this beautiful and amazing moment and- People. There were people watching them kiss. 

They were gonna find out that he liked Keith, and then they would tell him and it would ruin their friendship.

With that in mind, Lance got up and left. Running straight upstairs, out the door and into the night.

3\. High School, School Hallway

They’d been dating for three weeks now. 

It had been a shock to everyone when they came to school one day, hand in hand instead of their usual side by side. The surprise was of course not that they liked each other, that was obvious to anybody within five feet of them. No, the big shocker was that they had each gotten the balls to finally fess up about it.

But they had, and here they were now, dating and being all lovey-dovey towards one another every chance they got. 

“I love you,” Lance whispered into Keith's ear, as he pinned him against his locker. It wasn't exactly in a sexual way, it was just pda.

“Love you too,” Keith whispered right back. 

They loved each other, really truly did, and made it so obvious so that there would be no more confusion like there had been back in middle school when they were both still pinning helplessly.

It would take a while to get used to, you know, being boyfriends instead of best friends, and being able to finally express their shared feelings in any way they pleased. Whether it was kisses or cuddles, but they would get into the habit eventually.

“It’s almost Christmas, babe,” Keith said simply, his hands playing around with the hair at the nape of Lance’s neck. “Which means that we've gotta kiss under the mistletoe.” He added playfully, smiling smugly at Lance. 

“Oh god.” Lance groaned out loudly. He backed away from his boyfriend and buried his blushing face in his hands. “You always caught me off guard, it’s not my fault.” He mumbled. He was, of course, referring to their last two kisses under the mistletoe where he’ been stiff and hesitant.

“We were playing spin the bottle!” Keith yelled half-jokingly at the embarrassed boy. “How would you not be prepared to kiss somebody?”   
“I guess I just wasn’t prepared to be kissing you,” Lance said, taking his face out of his hands to look a Keith lovingly, who was now blushing madly. Payback.

“You- you can’t just say stuff like that,” He sputtered out. It was kind of adorable how wide his eyes got and how absolutely red his face was. Keith just always looked so cute when he blushed.

“Alright,” Keith said taking a deep breath. “As I was saying, mistletoe.” He pulled out a small bundle of the plant from his pocket and waved it in front of Lance’s face. 

“Are we really doing this?” Lance asked, already leaning in.

“Of course,” Keith replied easily. “It’s our Christmas tradition, after all.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! :D


End file.
